TOBY WALNE, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY
Use wi-fi in a coffee shop? Here’s how
the man sitting behind you could be
emptying your bank account
Cyber security expert Colin Tankard
reveals how hackers hijack computers.
A £200 gadget is designed to imitate
the signal of the wi-fi that customers join.
It tracks everything users do – picking
up passwords and credit card numbers
Wireless internet is a modern marvel
that allows us to surf the internet
wherever we are.
But after spending a day out with a
hacking expert, Toby Walne discovered
that public wi-fi
is a dangerous place to go online surfing.
HOTEL IS A HAVEN FOR HACKERS
Sitting in the foyer of Stansted
Airport Novotel – with three smiling
receptionists just 30 feet away – it
feels a secure place to dig out my laptop.
Threat: Toby Walne thinks he is logging
on to the Nero wi-fi but it is a
hotspot set up by expert Colin Tankard,
This is a great vantage point for
watching the hustle and bustle of
travelling businessmen and
holidaymakers – and gives me a chance
to catch up with emails.
The Novotel home page appears as
I search on my settings for wi-fi.
It cursorily mentions the network is
‘unsecured’ but this means nothing to
me – other than it cuts out the hassle
of creating a password or tiresomely
tapping in my personal details.
One of the passing businessmen politely
asks if the neighbouring seat is taken
and whether he might use the wall
socket to charge his computer.
His disarming manner puts me at ease–
but it is nothing but a ruse (trick).
This is cyber security expert Colin
Tankard and he is about to share the
secrets of how hackers routinely hijack
computers and smartphones of innocent
people without them even knowing.
Tankard whips out a black box the size
of a cigarette packet with two antennae
on top.
He tells me this is a ‘pineapple’.
It resembles no fruit I have ever seen.
Although it looks
pretty innocuous it has the ability to
spy on my every move.
Toby discovers nowhere is safe from a
hacker with this £200 device known as a
‘pineapple’
This £200 gadget is designed to imitate
the signal of the wi-fi that I wish to
join – tricking me into using its
internet service rather than the real
thing.
While I use it to check my emails and
surf the net it is tracking everything
I do – picking up details I tap in,
such as passwords and credit card
numbers, which can later be used to rob
me blind.
In just a few minutes, Tankard has
gained access to all the contacts on my
computer – a goldmine for future
phishing expeditions.
This is where crooks send out
scam emails to try to
trick recipients out of cash.
Next, Tankard pulls out a silver ‘range
extender’ from his pocket that is the
size of a box of matches.
This £30
device looks harmless enough but is an
extra weapon in the hacker’s spy armoury.
Tankard says: ‘Walking past I get a
sense of whether you might be a target
worth hacking.
This booster allows me
to then go and hide out at the other
end of the hotel – or sit in a car 100
feet away – to crack your computer.’
I am told that hotel chains have become
a magnet for hackers, with big names
such as InterContinental, Marriott and
Hyatt on the radar of criminals.
Part of the problem is a desire by hotel
groups to make their wi-fi easy to
access for the convenience of guests.
Tankard informs me that by digging a
bit deeper hackers can even use wi-fi
spyware to plug into hotel systems to
find reservations, room key details and
more stored credit card numbers.
To be continued…..
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